Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I ENJOYED EVERY SINGLE PAGE OF THIS BOOK.

This never happens to me! And listen, I am not married, nor in a relationship, nor anywhere close to it but this book makes me want to be. This is just the most wholesome, positive experience of reading about a couple I have ever had and I am pretty sure I 'aww'ed aloud multiple times. Absolute Relationship Goals. I especially enjoyed that there were no traces of any stereotypical gender-role related incidents that make me instantly squirm, nor was there the constant presentation of a relationship that is all roses and chocolates. THERE ARE FART JOKES. And I have never laughed so hard in my life.

This comic collection is an absolute gem for literally anyone. I cannot think of a single person I would not recommend this to and hope that lots and lots of people will get the joy of living with these characters for a little while.

I had the very best time reading this so I cannot give it anything BUT 5 stars. For making me laugh, making me relate and for making me believe that a thing such as true love does exist.

I thought "It Sounded Better in My Head" was utterly delightful.

I read this whole book in one day and my only complaint is that I wish it had been longer so that I could have gotten to meet and connect with the characters more because in the end, I felt like I had connected with Natalie, but sadly not so much with Zach, Lucy and Alex.

Natalie is a completely relatable character who is very insecure in her body due to her acne scars and her issues with acne in her early teens. I have read so many books in which the main characters were supposed to be insecure and introverts but actually really weren't so it was incredibly refreshing to read a character who is really, definitely uncomfortable at parties and who does hide her face and back from people - even her best friends.

The fact that she has had to deal with - in her eyes - "perfect" girls all her life, didn't help her cause and she is constantly overthinking every step she takes.

I immediately felt very much in love with Natalie and loved following her narrative. I wished that there had been more depth or explanation to her and Alex' budding romance - especially because the two of them have known each other for several years and Natalie does hang out a lot at their house, but as a reader, I got the feeling that her and Alex' communication starts exactly when it does in the book. I would've wished that the two of them have had some kind of a casual relationship because he is her best friend's brother, especially because that would've meant that the reader gets to know him more than I ultimately did.

However, my complaints are honestly minor because I absolutely loved this book and now wish I would have taken my time reading it instead of finishing it in one day. I don't want to let Natalie go yet... :)

Thank to you Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Listen. I really wish that I would have loved this book because it has a lot of potential. Stories like Justin's are important. Not just because of his sexuality, but because of his race, his looks (I LOVE that he is described as chubby) and his personality, which does not match with the toxic masculinity that's all around him. All of this is made especially important because the story takes place in the nineties, where everything I have just mentioned was even harder to deal with than it is today - and it can be still difficult in the twentyfirst century.

Now, for the things that I loved about this book. Justin knows exactly who he is, even though he is afraid to show it. He likes mixtapes and music and like every child of the 90s, I can absolutely relate to sitting in front of the radio and waiting for that special song to come on just to hit record very very quickly. So the fact that this book had all the mixtapes made me very very happy. It was adorable and I loved it.

Now for the things I didn't love too much... Mainly, I was confused about lot of things all of the time. For example Benny, Justins best friend, confuses me a lot. To be honest, I don't think that pulling your friend's pants down or burping in their faces could be considered funny. In fact, I would actually consider it bullying. Again, speaking from a personal perspective here, I was uncomfortable with it because I only ever knew these things as bullying. I was again very confused, when Benny finds Justin in the tent, waiting for Dominic and says something super cryptic. Is he in love with Justin? If so, why is it not adressed at all in the rest of the novel? If he's not, I am even more confused by the whole scene. Is the scene just there for Dominic to become jealous? I just... really don't know what was going on here...

There is another part, when Justin and Dominic talk about condoms and whether or not they need them, being two guys. I didn't find an answer to this in the rest of the book. And there should be an answer in the book. There should be a definite YES, CONDOMS ARE IMPORTANT. If it hadn't come up, I wouldn't have missed a conversation like that but considering that this is the nineties, where the AIDS crisis was admittedly not as scary and overwhelming than at the hight of the pandemic in the 80s (and first therapies were introduced, etc) I would have still liked the book to go there and to tell teens -gay teens - who are the prime target of novels like these, that condoms are in fact vital for other reasons than just preventing pregnancies. I just wish it had been in there.

Lastly, I felt like some parts of the book were kind of rushed. For example the whole romantic relationship between Justin and Dominic. I realise that they knew each other before being neighbours but I would have enjoyed a longer lasting courtship - or a getting to know each other better. Because in the end, I didn't feel like I knew anyone properly at all and I felt like I wasn't able to connect with any characters the way I would have liked to.

I still think it is an important book. And I did like it. However, due to my concerns i had to choose the Goodreads rating "it was okay".

I cannot wait to see what Jake Martinez does next, though.

Thank you for Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I thought this book is utterly delightful and insightful.

It is about Andy Bellows, who is advised by his doctor to go on a tech detox to improve his health because he doesn't sleep, has pains and very interesting bowel movements (that last one is not my impression, Andy's bowels are actually very important to him and thus very important to this story, thank you very much).

He does go on said detox and I think you can probably guess what happens.

ABSOLUTE CHAOS.

I mean, I can absolutely relate and I don't even use the internet half as much as some of my friends. But a world without google? Without Instagram and maps and Whatsapp? And yes, even Goodreads... that just sounds EXHAUSTING.

And it is. But it's also so much better for Andy's general wellbeing. For one, he connects with his surroundings more. He also has to navigate a new city without an exact route on his phone. And he starts going on walks, gets more air and less sensory overload.

One positive about going on this detox: he meets the love of his life.
One negative about going on this detox: he has a friend at the local paper who wants to write about him. And Andy is way too socially awkward for that, isn't he? And what happens when he says yes and the article blows up and people suddenly want to meet him??

Well, I suggest you get yourself a copy of Logging Off and find out.

This novel is truly for every single one of us who uses their phone a tad more than necessary. It is a feel good novel, with lots and lots of laughter, romance, friendship and a very odd sense of a 21st century mind going "oh, same!" every couple of pages.

I laughed, I cried, it was lovely. And it even inspired me to leave my phone in the other room once in a while. Just to keep my concentration on things and people that matter in the moment instead of virtual notifications.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I thought Could Be Something Good was a cute and easy read. It is a Romance between a 31year old midwife and a twenty-something med student who meet because they work in the same small town hospital. The book is very much focused on the love story but dives into some other interesting themes: dyslexia, early death of a parent, age gap (in which the woman is the older party), difficult relationships between parents and their (grown up) children and very subtly even autism (the hero's brother, who will be the hero of the second novel in this series! GO representation!).

The reason for my own three star rating is that while I thought it was a cute and lovely read, there were some singular sentences that made me frown a little in disagreement. I also sadly didn't find a character I could truly relate to, which made the whole experience fall a little flat to me.

I am still looking forward to the second book in this series!

I would definitely recommend to anyone who: Likes hospital shows/themes/books, work romances, age gaps, PINING (I loved the pining), talk of birth (there's lots of talk of lots of births which is to be expected with the heroine being a midwife and all) and who just yearns for a quick and positive and cute read!

Thank you to Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

For me, Daisy Does it Herself had a bit of a bumpy start. I didn't connect with Daisy for a while. She tells her story of living with her hot shot boyfriend in London, while herself temping and becoming a computer sorceress on the side, which on paper sounds incredible, but to me she felt a bit bland and unrelatable. This changed very quickly, when it became clear that the bland, pretentious Daisy was the result of her boyfriend subtly grooming her into being the arm candy that he needed to have. And she went along with it, most probably not even noticing it was happening.

It is only when Daisy comes home after being fired from her job and finding her boyfriend kissing someone else, that she starts to take on her own character. Sadly, I personally still couldn't relate to the character she was showing now. She accidentally ends up in a small town and meets a hot bookseller/chef/barista and I'm sorry, but is this not the absolute dream??

I got really excited for Daisy and then grew increasingly frustrated again, when she told the boyfriend? Ex-boyfriend? It should've been ex-boyfriend the second she left that house tbh! that they could start discussing their relationship after a month apart. During that month, she starts living and working in the bookshop and grows ever closer with the owner, the dreamy Alex, who sounds absolutely adorable and I love him.

She soon learns that the bookshop is in trouble and when she learns of the emotional attachment that Alex has to the shop, well... she can't help but pour her all into saving the little shop that gave her a place to go when she needed it most.

Ovreall, I enjoyed this book. Especially the moments in the bookshop and whenever Alex is on the page (this is a serious book boyfriend alert, you guys!).

I loved that the book took a nerdy turn, not just with Daisy being an absolute PRO in anything technical (including writing her own codes like it's no big deal!) and the involvement of a fantasy author who is just as nuts as his fans (I would like to note that this reviewer goes to conventions and cosplays so I feel like I have earned the right to call my kind a little nuts :P). I loved the sense of community when Alex, Daisy and their friends do everything in their might to keep the bookshop running and the suspense in the end was absolutely killing me.

A couple of things nagged me, which didn't really spoil my experience, but are the reason why I only marked this book "I liked it" instead of "I loved it a lot".
I feel like there are a lot of stock characters involved which don't seem to have any depth to them, one of them being Daisy's mother, which made it very hard for me to feel empathy whenever Daisy felt down after telephoning her.

A second thing for me was the pacing. I felt like the ending was very rushed while the beginning seemed a little more drawn out and I would have enjoyed it the other way around (I also didn't need to know how much Daisy bathes and would have enjoyed more details and facts about the fantasy books, the fantasy fans and the author himself).

The romance - while being absolutely swoon worthy and cute - seemed to come out of nowhere to me. Not attraction, not like, but Alex being genuinely all caps IN LOVE with Daisy after what felt like a couple of days...

And lastly, there were some (very few but they were there) scenes in which I couldn't help but cringe a little. The most memorable example is when Daisy takes her first bath at Alex' bookstore on her first night and comes out of her room in only a tiny towel, which continues slipping and Alex is standing there, awkwardly not looking (but definitely looking). I know that it was meant to be a sexy scene, but to me it just felt increeeedibly awkward.

All in all though, I liked the book and recommend it to anyone in need of a quick and cute romance fix!

Thank you Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Death by Shakespeare was definitely not what I'd expected. I had expected to read another book that simply looked at the relevant plays (in this case all of Shakespeare's works) and analyse them into excruciating detail.

What I quickly figured out when I started this book was that I had managed to find an absolute gem: a very well rounded and perfectly executed explanation and depiction of death in all its forms in Shakespeare's works (and there are many) AND a history lesson with several accounts of real life deaths that occurred at the time and including a relation to how a particular death would be perceived or seen in the 21st century. And if that wasn't enough, the author then goes to explain certain deaths and especially sicknesses in a way that I - a medical simpleton - feel like I now understand some of the procedures of some forms of death and how medicine worked at the time.

This was an absolutely wonderfully rounded book and there is not a single thing that left me with questions or wanting more. I may even go as far as to say that this might be my absolutely favourite secondary literature book that I have ever read (and I am an English major - I've read a lot), and even though I had to put it aside sometimes to put my mind off death and decay, it was an incredibly interesting read. Easy to follow and so well written.

I recieved an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Only When It's Us was highly enjoyable.

And that's all you'll get if you don't want to see any TW or spoilers. If you do however, do move ahead.

Let's start with some Trigger Warnings that I know would have been a big deal for me and still would be a big deal for some people I know, so if you at all feel uncomfortable reading about these things, you probably shouldn't read this book: TW: Death (by Cancer), mourning, trauma, hearing loss due to illness, smut.

Okay, now let's get into it!
The main characters Willa and Ry were absolute peaches. They are university students, both very much into football (or soccer, I suppose), but Ryder had to give the dream of becoming pro up because he lost his hearing two years prior to when our story is set.

I have never actually read a rom-com about a character with a disability before, so I think this is absolutely more than refreshing. The writing felt authentic to a point where I could feel Ryder's frustration about not being able to do everything he did before (without going into TMI, I absolutely know what this feels like so for me this part of the story carries even more meaning). It's even more refreshing to see how Willa handles Ryder. Exactly as she had before.

They know exactly which buttons to push on each other and how to drive each other up the wall to a point where they don't know if they want to punch the other or kiss them, as all great strangers-to-friends-to-lovers story goes. Or... strangers-to-enemies-to-frenemies-to-lovers. The tension between them was fantastic, the misunderstandings and the pining simply divine and both Willa and Ryder are absolutely headstrong individuals who know what they want without pushing too far. There is nothing that irks me more than a male protagonist in a book that either lets himself be groomed by the heroine or forces her to become something she's not. Ryder is neither and for that I love him.

This book has everything from romance, to comedy, to bickering, to angst, to self-discovery and I can highly recommend it to everyone who enjoys a good romance.

The only things that irked me a little were the fact that Willa's mother pushed Ryder to speak. Despite her situation, I really was not too enthusiastic about him being forced to speak, especially in that way because I always think that after a traumatic experience such as Ryder definitely had, he is allowed to take his time. And if it takes longer than 2 years then people will have to accept it.

The other thing which never fails to make me laugh are the very colourful descriptions used in rom-coms referring to genitals and this book was no different. I think I even snorted once or twice out loud but for me that only added to the amusement and comedy and I don't even think of it as a bad thing per se.

The third thing that made me stop in my tracks was the fact that every single chapter started with a song title. Which, don't get me wrong, is an absolutely fabulous idea. I even loved that there was a spotify playlist and I did listen to it while reading 100%, but here's the thing... this is a book featuring a deaf character. Or at least one who is hard of hearing. And I was thinking that it was probably likely for deaf/HOH readers to pick up this book to see themselves represented, right? And sooo... is this really the book to attach to a musical playlist? Just a thought.

All in all, this is a very enjoyable read and for I definitely recommend to all the romance lovers out there! This is definitely DEFINITELY one of the best ones I've ever read!